What's so funny about Russia?

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I never did get what was funny about Russia.

I'd agree that there seems to be a distinct flavour to russian humour.
I have tried to translate jokes which are very funny in russian, but just are not as funny in english. I find I have to get creative with how I deliver the joke, to get the flavour of what is being said, as opposed to just doing a straight translation. Some words carry an emotion with it - so calling someone 'little johnny' in english is a bit neutral, meaning johnny is young, maybe a bit naive. In russian if you say 'Vanichka' it is said with some affection implied. If you wanted it neutral, you would say 'Vanya" which is the informal version of Ivan.

I have noticed on TV subtitles, these days, they seem to be more often about getting the correct flavour rather than just a literal translation. I wonder how many historical 'situations' developed as a result of overly literal translations?

I remember a joke my Dad told me about a soldier surrounded by rows of the enemy. The word for a row is almost identical to the word for s**t - just put an 's' in front. So the joke was a paragraph describing the situation, making sure each time you used the word 'row' , the preceding word ended in an 's' and it still made sense, both ways.
So yeah, a bit of dirty humour and word play.

I think if I was given the choice between those two I would go with cold, dark, dreary Russia I mean there's all the first stuff you mentioned in excess here so I don't want to go to another country and see more of it. Also they have really, really good metal there I have no idea how to pronounce many of the band names but a lot I've heard are quite good.

The histories of Russia and Finland overlap to some extent, we have been friends and foes. There was a period of 100 years that Finland was a grand duchy of Russia, and it was not a bad time at all. This was, of course, before the era of Soviet Union, which we avoided by sheer good luck.

So much for politics. Russians are the most warm-hearted people I've ever met. Their heart is as big as their country and their music is next to divine. Know what? During the dark years of World War II in the front between Finland and Soviet Union, the same music was played on both sides. Literally the same songs.

I don't really have an opinion about Russia. It's a fact to me that Russia has always been there, next door.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ7i0QF9ko0[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt6Pz5svXj4[/youtube]

Ha ha! I've known old fellas who sounded just like the porcupine!

And It's true, Russians do have jokes about inanimate objects talking to each other. Probably a consequence of the way the grammar is. Everything has a masculine, feminine or neutral gender. This does not exist in English.

Maybe they are jealous because Russians are real, Russian Woman are naturally beautiful, (I was at work when these two attractive women approached me, before they even spoke to me I addressed them in Russian, "how did you know we were Russian:" they asked,)
And the beautiful language, English sounds like a grunting pig in comparison.

Then again, maybe they were thinking about Russian cars.

My daughter is gorgeous. Check her out .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFE2l83k ... youtu.be&a


Can't get more real than that!! !
But she is half Nepalese, so that explains the eyes.

I don't see anything funny about Russia. I guess what others said about it not being considered a cool or romantic country to want to do an exchange in like France (Paris) or Italy could explain the giggles......but I still don't see that as funny. Stupid York U kids!

Mostly ignorance, stupidity and insecurities from what I've seen... I've worked with many Eastern Europeans and some Russians along the years, generally found them excellent professionals and interesting people, their different perspective often leading to out of the box ideas and solutions. I still can't believe what absurd and idiotic notions some of my colleagues had about them... and often wouldn't change their "opinions" even when faced with solid facts/proof of how wrong they are... It sometimes comes from fear of the unknown, the need to feel superior, perception and prejudice, but hiding behind justifications doesn't change anything.

Many Russian do have a fantastic sense of humour, very specific, too - think Chekhov (more understated) or Ilf and Petrov (downright hilarious), the brilliant and subversive Bulgakov or a fascinating master of the absurd as Daniil Kharms. Fascinating history and some of the greatest writers and composers I've ever come across. Add a few excellent essayists, thinkers, philosophers, especially those without a formal system. I'm sorry others make you feel embarrassed for being Russian, despite the terrible things that happened there in the XXth century it's still a great culture and a true loss most people know so little about it.

Oh yes and quite a lot of people have the annoying habit to giggle or say stupid things when they don't understand something - it's not about thinking it's funny.

Russians have gone through a lot of very hard times. There's nothing funny about that.

Very true. It really shows up in the folk music. Some of those songs are pure misery.

And in the 70's, Vladimir Visoskiy really became a hero to the people with his music and poetry. He has one song which sang about scary things in the forest, like witches, and you won't come back if you go there. But then when you look at the clip, it was people getting executed. Like a Russian Bob Dylan.

Also the psychology and language reflect the harsh history. They are more realistic about the reality of death than some other places.

If this is the only occurrence, it might actually be nothing to do with Russia. Sometimes, the way somebody says something just strikes people as funny. I guess it might be the same with sign language too.



This makes me think that you might have gotten the wrong idea. If you think about it "scientifically", you have multiple pieces of evidence against the idea that people find Russia funny, and only one piece of evidence in favour of the idea.

and thank GOD for that! if i had to learn gender for all the nouns i'd probably be mute.

It is a pain to learn, but there is a structure you get used to. At least the language is phonetic. So if you learn the alphabet, you can read. What you see is what you get - one letter, one sound, with very few exceptions.
In English, the spelling is so inconsistent, you can have the same bunch of letters pronounced several different ways (eg, enough, through, dough) or the same sound spelled a number of ways (eg sew, throw, though, toe)

I think English is actually much harder, which is why I'm so glad I'm an Aussie!! I'd hate to have to learn it from scratch.

my late mother never really got english under her belt. she was japanese and so learning the alphabet [prewar, before the widespread use of romaji] was a totally new thing for her.